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JUST-MING
Retired Number
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 43983
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 Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 7:48 am Post subject: |
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| scout_0 wrote: | | JUST-MING wrote: | STARTERS
G Russell Westbrook (32 minutes) 30% shooter
G/F Trevor Ariza (16 minutes) 35% shooter
F Lebron James (32 minutes) 36% shooter
F/C Anthony Davis (32 minutes) 32% shooter
C Dwight Howard (16 minutes) Not a shooter
ROTATION
G Kendrick Nunn (32 minutes) *sixth man
G Malik Monk (16 minutes)
G/F Talen Horton Tucker (16 minutes)
G/F Kent Bazemore (16 minutes)
G/F Wayne Ellington (16 minutes)
F Carmelo Anthony (16 minutes)
C Marc Gasol (16 minutes)
I think Horton Tucker will see more minutes at small forward. |
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Play to our strengths. Westbrook is a transition basketball player. Ariza, James, Davis, Howard can run the floor for easy baskets. That can stretch a defense more than 3 point shooter gravity since opponents have to be mindful of the leak out in transition. James can still facilitate in half court but our identity will be in the paint, at the line, and in transition. Bully ball. |
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defense
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Joined: 12 Jan 2010
Posts: 39445
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| Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:20 am Post subject: |
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| I'm trying to figure out who's going to play defense besides our big men |
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CRoost
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Joined: 21 Mar 2017
Posts: 4791
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| Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:38 am Post subject: |
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| defense wrote: | | I'm trying to figure out who's going to play defense besides our big men |
This is gonna be huge hole because Lebron tend to coast defensively in the regular season. There’s no one in our team that I consider point of attack defender. The only player that have the ability to get it done is Westbrook. |
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scout_0
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Joined: 22 Oct 2020
Posts: 1810
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| Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 12:14 pm Post subject: |
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Nunn
Westbrook
Bazemore
LeBron
Davis
Thats the line up I want to see. Nunn + Westbrook slashing and dashing defenses like no tomorrow with Bron + AD chilling on the perimeter. Probably won't start but it will be interesting.
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D'Angelo finals M.V.P |
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Sina
Star Player
Joined: 12 Jul 2015
Posts: 1801
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| Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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Lakers are a bit over-talented again. First of all, it’s about playing time. There are 12 rotation players all demand playing time. Then it is about their role. For the big 3, AD is our Mr inside, LBJ is our playmaker. How about Russ? Coming off the bench, Anthony is an all time scorer. How about the 3 young guards in THT, Nunn and Monk. The all demand consistent role and minutes. In fact, Ariza was a starting 4 for the Heat last season. I’m afraid Vogel isn’t a good coach in dealing with this situation.
Last season, the addition of Schroder took the ball out of KCP’s hand and his 2nd ball handler’s role in the starting unit. He was become a pure 3D like Green. The adding of Harrell in cheap contact ate up the bench scorer’s role of Kuzma and forced him to play as a 3D too. Harrell also ate up playing time of Morris and 3rd scorer’s role of Schroder in fact. The chemistry was affected then.
The signs of Monk and Nunn remain me the sign of Harrell last season. Hope coach could play to their strength and manage their expectation well.
Gasol(16), DH(18)
AD(32), Anthony(20), Ariza(10)
LBJ(32), Nunn (16)
Bazemore(22), Monk(16), Ellington(10)
Russ(32), THT (16) |
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BandwagonLBJhopper
Star Player
Joined: 07 Feb 2020
Posts: 3578
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| Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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| scout_0 wrote: | Nunn
Westbrook
Bazemore
LeBron
Davis
Thats the line up I want to see. Nunn + Westbrook slashing and dashing defenses like no tomorrow with Bron + AD chilling on the perimeter. Probably won't start but it will be interesting. |
Hmm I like this idea. Nunn has the athleticism to be strong on ball with the pressure Vogel likes defensively and he can score/create on and off ball so should work with Westbrook. |
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textbook
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Joined: 27 Mar 2015
Posts: 2181
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| Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 3:42 pm Post subject: |
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If AD truly moves to Center more often than not:
Westbrook / Nunn
Ellington / Monk / Ariza
Bazemore / THT / Ariza
Lebron / Melo / Ariza
AD / Howard / Gasol
Gasol is odd man out here but we can use him when AD/Lebron Sit and on certain match ups.
This gives everyone their minutes and slides Ariza in a do it all type roll. I would of switched Baze with Ariza but for the reports that Baze was promised more time. |
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textbook
Star Player
Joined: 27 Mar 2015
Posts: 2181
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| Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 3:50 pm Post subject: |
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| textbook wrote: | If AD truly moves to Center more often than not:
Westbrook / Nunn
Ellington / Monk / Ariza
Bazemore / THT / Ariza
Lebron / Melo / Ariza
AD / Howard / Gasol
Gasol is odd man out here but we can use him when AD/Lebron Sit and on certain match ups.
This gives everyone their minutes and slides Ariza in a do it all type roll. I would of switched Baze with Ariza but for the reports that Baze was promised more time. |
Rotations:
Westbrook
Ellington
Baze
Lebron
AD
Westbrook
Monk
THT
Melo
AD
2nd quarter
Nunn
Monk
THT
Lebron
Howard
Nunn
THT
Lebron
Ariza
AD
Westbrook
Ellington
Baze
Lebron
AD
CLOSERS
Westbrook
Ellington
Lebron
Ariza/Melo
AD |
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lakurluv
Star Player
Joined: 17 May 2010
Posts: 2529
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| Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 6:08 pm Post subject: |
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One thing for sure is Trevor Ariza 'WILL NOT' be in the starting lineup.
I don't believe Gasol will be on the roster when the season starts. He could be released to free up some cap space, or possibly included in an S&T.
If THT isn't starting, then the team will either go with Bazemore or Ellington and I believe Ellington may get the nod. They are relatively the same age, but Ellington fits the starting spot.
The Lakers will need some size if Gasol is released and depending on who fills that spot, could determine two spots in the starting unit. |
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Lakerz113
Star Player
Joined: 15 Mar 2015
Posts: 2445
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| Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:02 pm Post subject: |
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| lakurluv wrote: | One thing for sure is Trevor Ariza 'WILL NOT' be in the starting lineup.
I don't believe Gasol will be on the roster when the season starts. He could be released to free up some cap space, or possibly included in an S&T.
If THT isn't starting, then the team will either go with Bazemore or Ellington and I believe Ellington may get the nod. They are relatively the same age, but Ellington fits the starting spot.
The Lakers will need some size if Gasol is released and depending on who fills that spot, could determine two spots in the starting unit. |
I could see Gasol actually starting. |
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lurklurk
Starting Rotation
Joined: 08 Mar 2016
Posts: 621
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| Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:09 pm Post subject: |
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| lakurluv wrote: | One thing for sure is Trevor Ariza 'WILL NOT' be in the starting lineup.
I don't believe Gasol will be on the roster when the season starts. He could be released to free up some cap space, or possibly included in an S&T.
If THT isn't starting, then the team will either go with Bazemore or Ellington and I believe Ellington may get the nod. They are relatively the same age, but Ellington fits the starting spot.
The Lakers will need some size if Gasol is released and depending on who fills that spot, could determine two spots in the starting unit. |
I keep seeing this here. Why will we even release Gasol? |
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Lakerz113
Star Player
Joined: 15 Mar 2015
Posts: 2445
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| Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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| lurklurk wrote: | | lakurluv wrote: | One thing for sure is Trevor Ariza 'WILL NOT' be in the starting lineup.
I don't believe Gasol will be on the roster when the season starts. He could be released to free up some cap space, or possibly included in an S&T.
If THT isn't starting, then the team will either go with Bazemore or Ellington and I believe Ellington may get the nod. They are relatively the same age, but Ellington fits the starting spot.
The Lakers will need some size if Gasol is released and depending on who fills that spot, could determine two spots in the starting unit. |
I keep seeing this here. Why will we even release Gasol? |
Exactly. He’s our only floor spacing big. The Lakers are not rolling out Ad/Dwight/LbJ/Russ/bazemore |
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A Mad Chinaman
Star Player
Joined: 07 Apr 2005
Posts: 6139
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| Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Lakerz113 wrote: | | lurklurk wrote: | | lakurluv wrote: | One thing for sure is Trevor Ariza 'WILL NOT' be in the starting lineup.
I don't believe Gasol will be on the roster when the season starts. He could be released to free up some cap space, or possibly included in an S&T.
If THT isn't starting, then the team will either go with Bazemore or Ellington and I believe Ellington may get the nod. They are relatively the same age, but Ellington fits the starting spot.
The Lakers will need some size if Gasol is released and depending on who fills that spot, could determine two spots in the starting unit. |
I keep seeing this here. Why will we even release Gasol? |
Exactly. He’s our only floor spacing big. The Lakers are not rolling out Ad/Dwight/LbJ/Russ/bazemore |
Interesting to read that people want to get rid of Marc Gasol without mentioning any possible alternatives
Gasol is somebody that Lebron trusts and has proven to be a very good defensive presence. He is a legitimate 3pt shooter and excellent passer
Given the players on the roster, maybe Vogel will use 8-9 players in a tight rotation where the players are not playing extensive consecutive minutes.
If they resign Matthews, along with possibly Bradley and Dudley, Lakers can put on the floor a good defensive presence
Vogel and Fizzdale are outstanding coaches whose forte is getting teams to play good Team D, not individual one-on-one defenders with AD and/or Dwight as the last line of defense |
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GameCock-MD
Star Player
Joined: 14 Dec 2004
Posts: 4498
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| Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Lakerz113 wrote: | | lurklurk wrote: | | lakurluv wrote: | One thing for sure is Trevor Ariza 'WILL NOT' be in the starting lineup.
I don't believe Gasol will be on the roster when the season starts. He could be released to free up some cap space, or possibly included in an S&T.
If THT isn't starting, then the team will either go with Bazemore or Ellington and I believe Ellington may get the nod. They are relatively the same age, but Ellington fits the starting spot.
The Lakers will need some size if Gasol is released and depending on who fills that spot, could determine two spots in the starting unit. |
I keep seeing this here. Why will we even release Gasol? |
Exactly. He’s our only floor spacing big. The Lakers are not rolling out Ad/Dwight/LbJ/Russ/bazemore |
We don't need what everyone keeps saying we need.
Please list the offense we will use and what plays Gasol will space the floor for us.
We can't stay vanilla if we want to get the most out of LeBron and Westbrook. Rebounding and defense will get us a lot farther in the playoffs than outside shooting from our 5.
_________________
Build around team players, not ISO players.
Last edited by GameCock-MD on Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:50 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Lucky_Shot
Star Player
Joined: 10 Jan 2016
Posts: 5140
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| Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:50 pm Post subject: |
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The Hall of Fame Line up:
RWest
LBJ
Melo
AD
Howard |
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Hanging from Rafters
Star Player
Joined: 31 Jul 2018
Posts: 4394
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| Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2021 10:06 pm Post subject: |
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Rotation with significant minutes will be 8 players, 9 at most. Another poster already listed these starters and I would like to agree with starting the best 5 players relative to capable positions so far (IMO):
Nun
Westbrook
Bazemore
LBJ
AD
Significant minutes:
Dwight
Melo
THT
DNP CD or garbage time most games:
Gasol
Ariza
Ellington
Monk
Vogel may experiment early but eventually I think he will settle on the above. Can’t see Monk, Ellington, Ariza, Gasol getting meaningful minutes with other players providing better options...barring catastrophe. |
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hype
Star Player
Joined: 19 Nov 2007
Posts: 4372
Location: Lake Nacimiento
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| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:07 am Post subject: |
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| Hanging from Rafters wrote: | Rotation with significant minutes will be 8 players, 9 at most. Another poster already listed these starters and I would like to agree with starting the best 5 players relative to capable positions so far (IMO):
Nun
Westbrook
Bazemore
LBJ
AD
Significant minutes:
Dwight
Melo
THT
DNP CD or garbage time most games:
Gasol
Ariza
Ellington
Monk
Vogel may experiment early but eventually I think he will settle on the above. Can’t see Monk, Ellington, Ariza, Gasol getting meaningful minutes with other players providing better options...barring catastrophe. |
I think Monk is way too talented and young to not play most nights.. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him outplay THT many nights in the regular season.. I think him and THT are going to be in a battle for more minutes and hopefully it brings out the best in both of them. I'd love to see THT progress to where he's our clear cut 4th-5th best player but not sure his 3 ball will be quite ready enough to do that but i'd love to see it.
I'd actually love to see 2 (or all 3 if matchups let us) of Nunn, THT and Monk get some minutes together against other teams benches. We'd go from probably the oldest starting lineup to possibly one of the younger benches among the contenders. A lot of question marks remain but i'd like to see as much young legs injected into the rotation as possible especially in the first half of the regular season to see what we have. |
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lurklurk
Starting Rotation
Joined: 08 Mar 2016
Posts: 621
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| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:19 am Post subject: |
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| GameCock-MD wrote: | | Lakerz113 wrote: | | lurklurk wrote: | | lakurluv wrote: | One thing for sure is Trevor Ariza 'WILL NOT' be in the starting lineup.
I don't believe Gasol will be on the roster when the season starts. He could be released to free up some cap space, or possibly included in an S&T.
If THT isn't starting, then the team will either go with Bazemore or Ellington and I believe Ellington may get the nod. They are relatively the same age, but Ellington fits the starting spot.
The Lakers will need some size if Gasol is released and depending on who fills that spot, could determine two spots in the starting unit. |
I keep seeing this here. Why will we even release Gasol? |
Exactly. He’s our only floor spacing big. The Lakers are not rolling out Ad/Dwight/LbJ/Russ/bazemore |
We don't need what everyone keeps saying we need.
Please list the offense we will use and what plays Gasol will space the floor for us.
We can't stay vanilla if we want to get the most out of LeBron and Westbrook. Rebounding and defense will get us a lot farther in the playoffs than outside shooting from our 5. |
Insurance as the only other stretch big for the inevitable AD DNP games or as another big body for the also inevitable d39 foul trouble/ejections. |
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STiG909
Star Player
Joined: 18 Jun 2005
Posts: 1687
Location: Inland Empire
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| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:44 am Post subject: |
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| Too many people underestimating Ariza’s potential role on this team. |
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wolfpaclaker
Retired Number
Joined: 29 May 2002
Posts: 58336
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| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 5:06 am Post subject: |
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AD/Howard/Gasol
Melo/Ariza
Bron/THT
Bazemore/Monk/Ellington
Westbrook/Nunn |
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lakurluv
Star Player
Joined: 17 May 2010
Posts: 2529
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| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 5:24 am Post subject: |
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| lurklurk wrote: | | GameCock-MD wrote: | | Lakerz113 wrote: | | lurklurk wrote: | | lakurluv wrote: | One thing for sure is Trevor Ariza 'WILL NOT' be in the starting lineup.
I don't believe Gasol will be on the roster when the season starts. He could be released to free up some cap space, or possibly included in an S&T.
If THT isn't starting, then the team will either go with Bazemore or Ellington and I believe Ellington may get the nod. They are relatively the same age, but Ellington fits the starting spot.
The Lakers will need some size if Gasol is released and depending on who fills that spot, could determine two spots in the starting unit. |
I keep seeing this here. Why will we even release Gasol? |
Exactly. He’s our only floor spacing big. The Lakers are not rolling out Ad/Dwight/LbJ/Russ/bazemore |
We don't need what everyone keeps saying we need.
Please list the offense we will use and what plays Gasol will space the floor for us.
We can't stay vanilla if we want to get the most out of LeBron and Westbrook. Rebounding and defense will get us a lot farther in the playoffs than outside shooting from our 5. |
Insurance as the only other stretch big for the inevitable AD DNP games or as another big body for the also inevitable d39 foul trouble/ejections. |
Just to be clear, I don't want Gasol gone mainly because he can stretch the floor, however it doesn't take away the fact that he could be included in a deal with DS/S&T to create some cap and possibly sign someone like Buddy Hield.
The Lakers have more than enough players to spread the floor and if AD is committed to the 5 this year, there may not be many minutes available at that spot regardless. If Gasol is targeted in a packaged deal, look for the Lakers to bring back Boogie on a 1 year deal and although Gasol shot better % from the three, they are about the same type of player and Boogie would be cheaper.
But all -in-all, if Gasol doesn't get moved, then he fits the role. The Lakers could be thinking to add future pieces to pare with AD post LeBron, which isn't a bad idea at all... Gasol was a bump in the road early in the season then got his 'ish' together after Drummond was added threatening his minutes. It shouldn't take that for a player of his veteran years and experience. Let's see how it all pans out after the first 1/4 of the season if he's still around. I can tell you know if K-Love gets waived, you can definitely forget about it, unless he wants to goto the Clippers... |
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lurklurk
Starting Rotation
Joined: 08 Mar 2016
Posts: 621
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| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 5:52 am Post subject: |
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| lakurluv wrote: | | lurklurk wrote: | | GameCock-MD wrote: | | Lakerz113 wrote: | | lurklurk wrote: | | lakurluv wrote: | One thing for sure is Trevor Ariza 'WILL NOT' be in the starting lineup.
I don't believe Gasol will be on the roster when the season starts. He could be released to free up some cap space, or possibly included in an S&T.
If THT isn't starting, then the team will either go with Bazemore or Ellington and I believe Ellington may get the nod. They are relatively the same age, but Ellington fits the starting spot.
The Lakers will need some size if Gasol is released and depending on who fills that spot, could determine two spots in the starting unit. |
I keep seeing this here. Why will we even release Gasol? |
Exactly. He’s our only floor spacing big. The Lakers are not rolling out Ad/Dwight/LbJ/Russ/bazemore |
We don't need what everyone keeps saying we need.
Please list the offense we will use and what plays Gasol will space the floor for us.
We can't stay vanilla if we want to get the most out of LeBron and Westbrook. Rebounding and defense will get us a lot farther in the playoffs than outside shooting from our 5. |
Insurance as the only other stretch big for the inevitable AD DNP games or as another big body for the also inevitable d39 foul trouble/ejections. |
Just to be clear, I don't want Gasol gone mainly because he can stretch the floor, however it doesn't take away the fact that he could be included in a deal with DS/S&T to create some cap and possibly sign someone like Buddy Hield.
The Lakers have more than enough players to spread the floor and if AD is committed to the 5 this year, there may not be many minutes available at that spot regardless. If Gasol is targeted in a packaged deal, look for the Lakers to bring back Boogie on a 1 year deal and although Gasol shot better % from the three, they are about the same type of player and Boogie would be cheaper.
But all -in-all, if Gasol doesn't get moved, then he fits the role. The Lakers could be thinking to add future pieces to pare with AD post LeBron, which isn't a bad idea at all... Gasol was a bump in the road early in the season then got his 'ish' together after Drummond was added threatening his minutes. It shouldn't take that for a player of his veteran years and experience. Let's see how it all pans out after the first 1/4 of the season if he's still around. I can tell you know if K-Love gets waived, you can definitely forget about it, unless he wants to goto the Clippers... |
Thats not a fact, thats just your pipe dream. |
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lakerican
Star Player
Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 3786
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| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 5:55 am Post subject: |
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August 8
Dennis Schroder
Buddy Hield
Sign & Trade
Luxury Tax
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Four Decade Bandwagon
Star Player
Joined: 18 Jul 2014
Posts: 8148
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| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 7:32 am Post subject: |
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| lakerican wrote: | August 8
Dennis Schroder
Buddy Hield
Sign & Trade
Luxury Tax
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Not feeling the Hield trade. I think they are already deep at guard.
Any potential trade using Schroder should be for a PF/C depth. IMO that is still the area that needs some depth.
Several interesting options continue to be mentioned. For the record, Dudley is not one of them! But having another “big” option to keep the rotations from relying on the idea of playing Davis at center or James at PF excessively. This includes relying on Gasol playing a ton of mpg too.
No doubt the Lakers will have the flexibility to play this small ball finesse lineups but over the long season they need another big more then they need Hield. |
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nbaDrafter
Sixth Man
Joined: 01 May 2021
Posts: 28
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| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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Obviously AD, Russ and LBJ are in there, the remaining two will likely be low-usage, high-gravity, defense-first guys to optimize them.
Starting lineup:
| Quote: | 1) Marc Gasol @ C - AD says he'll play more center, but I'm not convinced how much he'll do it in the slog of the regular season. I also think the Lakers have a different opinion of Marc than when they first signed him - it's clear there was a dissonance and some verbal headbutting behind the scenes the past season. That being said, I think it's a slight blessing in disguise he's still here, as we still need to "protect' AD wear-and-tear wise, and he offers a complete dissonance from Dwight's style. Assuming AD comes back pre-injury and can guard mobile 4s/3s, Marc can still defend well - he was 6th among 49 centers in defensive RAPTOR, continuing a career-long trend of top notch defense. I think his gravity is illusory though - he rarely touches the ball at this point, and despite 39-41% 3-point shooting, it's like playing 4-on-5 here. But, he greases the wheels on both ends with passing, shooting, defense, and size to protect AD, and he fits with our starting lineup. He might only play a token 15-16 minutes per game in the JaVale "starting lineup" role of our championship season, but he'll get the first licks. Against teams with plodding centers, he'll definitely start, but we might switch to our closing lineup starting lineup (with Ariza, see below) against smaller teams.
2) Ellington @ SG - If Marc is starting, that illusory gravity isn't going to be enough, so I'm thinking we have to have a lower-usage, experienced three-point bomber in there. Ellington is that - very simplistic role on offense, which is to bomb threes, and he's at A-A+ levels on that. He's a volume bomber, and in the past four years has canned between 3.6-4.1 threes per 40 minutes. This year was 4.1 on 42% 3FG%--which ranks 5th, and the other three years are top-15 material. And you don't get to hit that many threes without having off-ball, curl actions as well. He's the sort of guy that can prevent double teams as his defender will stay with him on the perimeter. And, can cause pick-your-poison scenarios for the opposition when guarding us, especially when flanked by three HOF'ers. I expect he and Marc will be stationed at the three point line offense. The defense will need cover, and we do have to wonder about a Russ/Ellington backcourt on defense, where we might cede jumpers but block the paint with AD/Gasol. |
I really thought about putting Ariza @ the 3/4, with Bron at the 4/3 and AD at center, with Ellington at 2 and Russ at 1. I suspect that's more of our closing lineup.
Closing lineup:
| Quote: | 1) Ellington @ SG: see above
2) Ariza @ 3/4: Ariza is a strong defender; B-ball ref lists him as playing PF for the Heat, and he was 11th among 140 PFs in defensive RAPTOR. Cranjis notes his defensive versatility score is high, however, and he also guards perimeter players as well as bigs, so he can be our swiss knife type defender. One of his best attributes historically is his ability to rack up steals without fouling; while he isn't the transition threat he once was, that can spur on Westbrook-ian transition opportunities. And despite bouncing around the league in the two years prior and taking a staycation for half the season with OKC - he's proven valuable enough with all his teams to still play 28+ minutes per game post age 33, with the vast majority in the starting lineup. He's a high volume three point shooter trained by the Moreyball chucks, but is just a fairly average shooter--essentially illusory gravity by volume, Matt Barnes style. Cranjis notes accounting for shot openness, he was just bad this year. I'd imagine he takes on a defense-first very willing to shoot three point shooter role, and can take the harder matchups from especially Ellington if need be. Another thing in putting him in the starting lineup - he and Ellington are niche, mistake-free players, stuff we need as Westbrook is turnover prone and we were very turnover prone the past year (that might preclude Bazemore since historically as a role player he's very turnover prone). As a taller proven defender with reasonable enough gravity, that might seal our gaps in crunchtime as we move AD to center. |
Bench unit:
| Quote: | 1) Kendrick Nunn - I'm sure there will be times when one of our older alphas-Westbrook, AD, and Bron - takes rest days or god-forbid gets an injury for a brief? amount of time where Nunn will plug into the starting lineup as our all-purpose type scorer. He's certainly had a lot of experience doing that in Miami. He can pair with Westbrook or THT for a smallball scoring lineups, or space it out traditionally with LBJ/AD. In games where we need a dash of get-your-own outside scoring, he's the best on the roster (THT and Brook don't necessarily have that). Offensively, I don't think people realized this about Nunn last year; among "PGs" willing to take 2-point shots and 3-point shots, his 2-point percentage only trailed James Harden last year. He scored inside-out, efficiently last year. He'll at least be slotted for 20+ minutes, but this is a deep roster as mentioned so everyone will have to make sacrifices. I put him above THT because I think he's likelier to slot into the starting lineup if we need it.
2) THT - If Westbrook takes rest days or god-forbid injury, THT brings a facsimile of that rim-seeking aspect. He's an underrated playmaker too, but not in the otherworldly level of Westbrook, so he can fit right in. And we paid him, so he's clearly looking at an elevated role. Expect him to get more than the 20 mpg last season, but with the depth 24-25 might be the best. I do expect a leap organically but also within team construct - with guys like Ellington and Nunn (and Monk if he plays) he has a lot more spacing for his drives. I'd expect our bench scoring to be very, very strong between Nunn and THT.
3) Ariza* - if Gasol starts, his value is here. That D-first 3-point willingness with reasonable results has utility on any team, and he'll find his way into minutes and can play with any lineup out there seamlessly. Whether it's with THT, Nunn, Westbrook, AD or LBJ.
3-4) Bazemore - he's 3rd if Ariza starts, otherwise 4th if Gasol starts. I know we promised Baze he'll have an important role with us, because he left a cushy situation in Golden State to take our minimum. But - man, we have a lot of wings. Baze is kinda like a 6'5" Ariza -- he's really defense-first, and I know we like to consider KCP a good rover of our defensive units, but the numbers have never taken too kindly to his impact. Ariza and Bazemore - mann, the impact is really there. If we go out with Ariza and Baze along with Westbrook, LBJ and AD, that can really have a lot of positional versatility with the defense. If we need to clamp down, that's the lineup to go to. But I'm just not sure about the shooting on several fronts - career-wise he's at an average 35.6%, but even more than that, he's not really an inclined three point shooter the way Ariza is (and he's a career meh 72% foul shooter). He historically has liked to do a little more - while that's led to foul drawing, he's also an awful 2-point shooter and very turnover prone for a roleplayer. I guess this is to say if he starts with Ariza, I'm not sure we really have the spacing we desire. That's why Ellington is such the big swing here, and Ariza offers size on top of the defense. But with injury/rest situations, he'll be top of mind if we need a swiss knife type in play.
4-5) Dwight - I really liked Dwight in his stint with us. Apart from his always-great per minute numbers with rebounding and foul drawing, he mucked up the game in ways that brought spirit to our team and brought a bunch of smiley cheerleading joy that we sorely lacked last season. Despite age he put up similar numbers with the Sixers and didn't get injured. Yeah he's unplayable in the playoffs and all that, as teams love to downsize (and he and Marc will get phased out if opposing teams play small/go small) - and that Ben Simmons/Dwight combo was awful in the playoffs. But Simmons doesn't have the rim-seeking scoring mentality Westbrook has, so I think Westbrook will fare better with Dwight. He's been at around 17-19 minutes the past two seasons. I'm not sure the minutes he'll get, but I expect at least 12, and closer to 15 if Marc gets injured or if he need more physical energy out there. It's good to have him as an *option* in the playoffs if we need, but as mentioned those minutes will decrease.
5) Gasol*- If we choose Ariza as our starter, I'm not sure where Gasol lands within our bench ranks. As mentioned, the gravity is illusory, and I'd think Dwight is slotted for minutes as an energy big where we need that size. But Gasol as noted does have the grease-the-wheels floor spacing defensive impact, and he definitely deserves minutes to some degree. As mentioned I think he'll start because AD won't play center all the time and Gasol provides veritable interior defense. But this would indicate he would be our 10th man, if he doesn't start.
6) Monk - He's got a lot of pizzazz, razzle-dazzle, swag to his offense. I've always been an advocate of Terrence Ross in previous trade deadlines to add stuff like this, and Monk is almost like a 6'3" T-Ross. While THT and Russ are undersized and can throw down, Monk has otherworldly athleticism and will bring the highlight reels in transition and off oops. And he's also a three point flamethrower, making 3 to 3.5 threes per 40 minutes in three of his four seasons (shooting 40% from deep this past season). He's not as consistent (or prolific!) as Ellington is, and Ellington has the vet savvy which is why he gets the start. I'm not sure if there's an opening, but had we not gotten say, Kendrick Nunn, he definitely deserves to be higher in our depth chart. We definitely can use the dunks and threes, and age, and that's why he chose us. But, 11th man speaks to the depth of this team, and I see him like how I see THT in his rookie year with us - just needs the opening. If we go 10 deep, he'll probably DNP most nights. But don't sleep on this kid.
7) Melo - No offense to Melo that he's the designated 12th man, but I wonder if LBJ or AD will pull some strings to get him more minutes than he might deserve. The biggest concern is defense - Melo can still handle minutes (he played 33 year prior, and 25 last year) but Portland absolutely was rocked on defense when he played, and not surprisingly as an awful defensive team. As Cranjis noted, he's a bottom five defender in this league, and even if he was top 10% offensive player, he still might not break even in terms of impact. That being said, he's become a good three point shooter recently on reasonable volume, and acts as a shooter/scorer. But Nunn (and even Monk) might do that shooting/scoring thing better. I'd guess he's a break glass in case of emergency shooter/scorer when people above the ranks take rest days/get injured.
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Last edited by nbaDrafter on Tue Aug 10, 2021 8:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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